The Broadwas heats of the national B and C level Golf Croquet tournaments were held on 2nd and 3rd August 2023. The heats attracted entries from many parts of the country including East Anglia, the South coast and the London area, as well as more local entries from the Broadwas club itself and also other areas of the Midlands. In fact the tournament could be called International as, on each day, there was an entrant from Switzerland.
Despite the weather predictions of continuous rain, the players on both days were only interrupted briefly by occasional showers for which they were very grateful.
The B level tournament attracted 20 entries who were split into 5 blocks of 4 where all played all in each block. After the blocks were complete the top 8 players went into the ‘Main event’, the next 8 into the ‘Plate’ and the remaining 4 into the ‘Tin’.
Local knowledge seemed to help as in the final of the Main event Fran Wall (from Broadwas) overcame Jon Carrington (also Broadwas) by 7 -5 in a close contest. The Plate was won by Colin Spencer from Downham and the ‘Tin’ by Raymond Morel our Swiss entrant.
The following day the C level had attracted 16 entries, so these were split into 4 blocks of 4. After the blocks the top 8 went into the ‘Main event’ and the remaining players into the ‘Plate’.
Again local knowledge helped, with Jeff Faulkner (Broadwas) winning the Main event 7 – 5 against Peter Martell (Cheltenham). The Plate was won by Lisa Furnival from Eynsham.
Congratulation to Fran Wall and Jeff Faulkner who qualify for the national finals of the B and C level tournaments respectively.
Broadwas Croquet Club hope all entrants enjoyed their day and look forward to hosting the events again next year.
John Guy 4-8-23
Cheltenham’s Peter Martell looks on as Jeff Faulkner scores a hoop with his jump shot, during his 7-5 win in the C-Level final.
